Twisted Worlds
by Zauberzunge
Summary: What would happen if Edward hadn't been able to stop himself from killing her? Good thing Claire isn't as fragile as he thought. Claire is new to Forks where she meets a strange young man and his family of vegetarians. No Bella, sorry. R&R please
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

High School

I was sitting in the school cafeteria with Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmet, waiting for lunch to end. High School was my personal hell on earth. One might think after all these decades I would have come to terms with the disadvantages of trying to blend in, but unfortunately that was not the case. The worst part was having to listen to THEM day in day out. Humans are slow and incredibly dull, and unfortunately it is my job to ensure that none of them find out who, or better what, we are. Today they were occupied with a new addition to the small student body here in Forks. Already the minds of the sheep-like males at the school were all, with a few exceptions, focused on her. Claire Butler. From the glimpses I caught of her in their minds I decided she was pretty but nothing special. A typical sun-tanned teenager, probably from somewhere in the south.

After a couple of minutes I blocked out the others' minds, save for those of my family. Although I tried not to listen to my siblings I had become too attuned to their thoughts. Rosalie was thinking about her Porsche contemplating whether or not she should polish it again this weekend. Emmett was still disgruntled over the wrestling match he had lost to Jasper, who in turn was fondly remembering his victory. The person whose mind I was most attuned to was Alice. If I had to choose she was probably my favourite sibling. Her usually bright thoughts had a dark edge to them today as she was thinking about her past again. Although our human memories were weaker than our vampire ones, the rest of us could still remember our past before we were turned into vampires. Alice was the exception. She had no recollection whatsoever of her brief human life and so far all her attempts to uncover information about her past had been to no avail. At the moment she was thinking about chasing down a lead in Texas, sifting through visions of the future to determine whether or not it would lead her anywhere. I briefly placed my hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her and she flicked me quick smile. The motion of my hand had caught Jasper's attention and he was immediately concerned, tasting the emotions around her. Alice just shook her head at him and he relaxed a little. He did not know about Alice's plans and I had no intention of informing him. Although I could not always stay out of their heads I tried my hardest not to reveal any of the thoughts my family had, I owed them at least that much.

I was relieved to hear the loud ring of the school bell signalling that lunch was, at last, over. This meant only two classes until I could finally leave this dreadful place.

Emmett and I walked together to Spanish, a class which I probably minded the least as our teacher, Mrs. Goff, left me in peace, knowing full well my knowledge of the language exceeded hers. After Spanish I had PE, this time with Alice. All of us loathed that class, especially Emmett, as we always had to hold back to ensure that none of the humans became suspicious. Today we played badminton. Coach Clapp asked us to pair up and of course Alice and I were teammates. Most humans noticed we were different, though they could never quite say why, and had the good sense to stay away. Suddenly the door to the gym opened and the new girl entered

"Sorry, I'm late; I got lost on my way to class." She looked embarrassed.

"That's alright, don't worry about it", Coach Clapp smiled at her. "Why don't you pair up with Mike Newton and play against Alice and Edward?"

"Of course, thank you"

Mike seemed only too eager to have her as a partner and quickly made his way towards us. I suppressed a groan. Having to listen to his mind was tiring at the best of times, but the girl's effect on him made it almost unbearable.

_I wonder if she likes me. I'd better put on a good show today to impress her. Damn, she's hot…_

Fortunately the coach blew his whistle and Mike lost his train of thought trying to hit the birdie over the net.

The girl was good; I had to give her that. She was fast and had a relatively good aim, something which could not be said for Mike. Nonetheless she was no match for Alice and me, despite the fact that we occasionally missed the birdie on purpose in order to appear normal. Alice was still distracted, thinking about Texas, when Mike, in an effort to prove himself, swung his racket a little too enthusiastically and hit the girl in the back of the neck. She barely flinched, but my curiosity at her unusual response was immediately washed away when I smelled her blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: This is my first story ever so I apologize if it's not top notch. I hope you like it. Please let me know if there is something wrong, or if you have any specific things you would like to happen. I will try my best to take your wishes into account while still staying true to my idea for the story. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter! R&R**

It felt like a white-hot iron was punching down my throat. I noticed Alice stiffen next to me in response to the smell of the girl's blood. In the past eighty years I had never smelled anything like it. A monster, which I thought I had successfully subdued, reared its ugly head inside me. All I wanted was to run over to the girl and taste her.

Alice's face suddenly went blank as she had another one of her visions, no doubt in response to the burning desire that was raging through my body. What I saw inside her head, only distracted me momentarily from my thirst, but it was enough for me to hesitate and for Alice to grab my arm and restrain me. She pulled me out into the gym foyer, still distraught by what she had seen.

"You can't harm her Edward. She's just an innocent. You know how Carlisle would feel about that!"

"I know I shouldn't" I groaned, "but I'm not sure I can!" Just thinking about the smell of Claire's blood…

"No!" Alice hissed, as the vision of me draining Claire became more defined. "Go now! Before it's too late. I'll deal with Coach and the others."

Relieved to be able to put some distance between me and the gym, I walked over to the car park as quickly as possible without arousing suspicion. Alice would come up with some sort of excuse as to why I had to leave so suddenly, and in the end everyone already thought we were strange…

I placed a CD containing my favourite Debussy pieces in the car's stereo while I waited for my siblings to leave class.

Rosalie was the first to arrive. From what I gathered from her thoughts she was still oblivious to the events that had taken place during gym. I was going to have to tell her and the others though, especially if we had to leave town again.

As soon as everyone had jumped in I reversed out of the school parking lot with screeching tires.

"Jeez, Edward. What is WRONG with you?"

I ignored Rosalie, knowing full well that I could expect little pity from her, regarding my situation.

_You'll have to tell them. It concerns all of us, especially if we have to leave again._

"I know, Alice! You don't need to remind me."

_I'm sure Carlisle will understand._

"I hope so. Though I wouldn't deserve it."

_It's not your fault and you know that!_

"Well I didn't see you wanting to rip her head off!"

"What the hell is going on?" Emmett interjected. "Do you have any idea how annoying it is having to listen to you two? Or should I say Edward?"

"I'm sorry but this concerns all of us" I apologized, "I'll fill you in once we get home and Carlisle finishes at the clinic."

When we arrived I went straight to my room. Carlisle wouldn't be back from work for another hour and I didn't want to be bombarded by questions I wasn't sure I could answer. Rosalie would be livid when she found out. Esme would understand; she always did. I couldn't have asked for a better mother. I just wished I was a better son. How could I lose control like that? For decades I had forced myself to abstain from human blood, successfully, and all my efforts were destroyed when I smelled HER. Maybe if I left town the others could remain in Forks. It wasn't fair that they had to give up their lives in Forks just because of me. Perhaps I could go north to Tanya and her coven until my own family had to move again. It was the least I could do after what had happened today. Fortunately Alice had stopped me before I raised too much suspicion. The humans would probably think I'd gone crazy. I hoped they would make that assumption. It was better than them discovering the truth…

When I heard Carlisle's car in the driveway I walked downstairs to greet him at the door.

"Hello Edward, is everything all right?" _You look uncomfortable. Should I be concerned?_

"Actually, I need to talk to you and the others. Something happened at school today."

"What's the matter dear?"

A wave of guilt washed over me when I heard the concern in Esme's voice. I didn't deserve it. I was a monster for crying out loud! If Alice hadn't stopped me today, who knows what would have happened.

I cleared my throat knowing that the others would be able to hear me no matter in which part of the house they were. In a matter of seconds my family had assembled around the dinner table, looking at me expectantly.

"I'm afraid I might have to leave you. This afternoon in gym class, Newton accidentally hit the new girl, Claire, with a badminton racket and drew blood. If Alice hadn't been there I would have killed her right on the spot. Her blood was unlike anything I've ever smelled before", I shuddered at the memory.

"I don't want to leave, just because you can't control yourself" Rosalie hissed.

"Hey babe, you know that's not always something we can control." _I still remember that one time in Ohio…_

"Stop it Emmett! You're not making this any easier for me!"

His memories had intensified the raging thirst in my throat.

_Sorry bro._

"Believe me I don't want to leave but if I don't, I'm afraid I can't guarantee her safety."

_You know we love you no matter what. Every life is precious and I would rather not see the girl die. If need to go then do what you think is right._

I smiled at Carlisle in appreciation.

_I'll miss you; we all will. Even Rosalie…_

The pain in Alice's thoughts intensified my guilty feelings. But if the girl was going to live I'd have to leave, and soon.

"I'll leave tomorrow, but before I go I'll pay the school a visit and tell them that I got transferred to some prestigious music academy. That should keep their suspicions at bay. Will you be able to organize the papers, Emmett?"

"Sure thing, bro. I'm sure I can come up with a good school for you", he grinned.

Although my family tried to comfort me, they soon realized that I would rather be alone during the last few hours of the night. One by one they excused themselves. Carlisle retired to his study to review a colleague's paper on stem cell research. Esme, humming to herself, worked on the plans for a client's lavish holiday residence. Jasper and Alice went to their room to enjoy the last hours of the night, while Rosalie worked on her car and Emmett organised my papers.

I slipped into my room, not wanting to give them the impression that I wanted their attention. Although I knew that I should spend my last hours with my family, I simply couldn't bring myself to talk to them. The guilt I felt over leaving them and the shame over my weakness hadn't subsided and probably wouldn't for a long time. Despite my best efforts I found my mind wandering back to the disastrous events that had taken place this afternoon. My attempts to stop myself from mulling over every detail of my encounter with the girl proved in vain. Belatedly I realized that her reaction to being hit with the racket had been very odd. Any normal person should have crumbled to the floor in pain, or at least clutch their neck, but Claire hardly flinched. This detail, which had previously eluded me, sparked my interest. It wasn't natural! There were only two types or creatures I had encountered that would display a similar response: vampires and werewolves. If she were a vampire I would have noticed the minute I saw her, and Mike wouldn't have drawn blood. The scent of her blood ruled out the possibility of her being a werewolf, which left me with no explanation for her curious reaction. Suddenly I found myself being pulled towards her. Whether it was the memory of her blood or my frustration at being unable to figure her out, I couldn't tell. If I could only get close enough to read her mind…

From what I'd heard of Alice's and Jasper's thoughts at the house, she was too preoccupied to search the future, looking for me. Before I knew what I was doing I found myself jumping out of the window and sprinting towards Forks. I arrived at the school in less than a minute and it didn't take me very long to pick the lock of the office and find her file. I needed to find her address as I couldn't follow her scent once she had gotten into a car. She didn't live too far and I knew I couldn't stop myself now, even if I wanted to.

None of the lights in her house were turned on which made it easier for me to slip in unnoticed. I entered through an open bathroom window on the second floor and carefully stepped out into the corridor. It was almost too easy, following her scent into her room. The door opened without a sound, but I barely noticed as I, yet again, felt a fist of flames punch down my throat.

It was too late!

Forgotten was my desire to discover her mystery. The smell of her blood compelled me. I had become the hunter. Quietly, to avoid waking the rest of the house, I opened her window. Covering her mouth with my right, and grabbing her around the waist I flung myself out of her room. We landed on the soft lawn outside with a barely audible thud. The girl started to stir as I darted over the backyard fence with her. By the time she awoke I was already two miles from Forks, deep in the forest. She looked at me in confusion as I gently placed her on the ground.

"What the…?"

I didn't let her finish. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from draining her I decided that the least I could do was kill her first, so she wouldn't have to suffer. Before she could utter another word I silenced her with a blow to the head, and dug my teeth into her neck…


	3. Chapter 3

I felt Alice approach before I heard her footsteps, as she raced towards me. Through her eyes I saw myself sitting on the ground, Claire's lifeless body in my arms, my eyes tinted crimson. Alice's face twisted in a mixture of pity and pain.

"Edward…"

I shot her a tortured glance.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been paying more attention, especially after what happened earlier!"

"Don't blame yourself" I groaned. "This is _my_ fault and mine alone. Don't delude yourself into thinking that you share any responsibility for my actions!"

Sometimes I really hated being able to read minds. On top of my own pain at having killed an innocent girl I also had to suffer through Alice's, who was under the impression that she could have helped me, had she watched my future more closely. In her mind I saw her getting up and leaving a confused Jasper behind, as soon as she saw the vision of me in the forest. Even though she had known she would arrive too late she had left anyway, to comfort me.

Suddenly I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eyes. Alice and I turned to stare at the lifeless body of Claire. Too shocked and confused to say anything we watched as the skin around the girl's throat began to knit itself together where my teeth had torn it. Moments later her heart started to beat again and she sat up coughing, spitting out a few drops of blood.

My mind was racing. I had never encountered anything like this before in my life, or rather existence. How could she have possibly survived? It wasn't natural. I had heard her heart give out after I had hit her on the head.

She had been dead! Although I should have been relieved that she had survived my attack, I just felt horror. How much had she seen before I murdered her? She must have realized something was wrong when I carried her into the forest. Worst of all, what was I supposed to do now? I couldn't leave her here, but I couldn't let her return home either. She was a considerable liability, and if she went to the police my family would have some serious problems, which wouldn't be solved by simply moving to a different town. I looked at Alice for guidance but she seemed just as baffled as me.

_What the HELL was that?_

"I don't know", I whispered, too low for human ears to hear.

_What are we going to do with her? We can't risk letting her go, but we can't kill her either. Maybe Carlisle has some idea as to WHAT she is, because this clearly isn't human._

"Would someone please tell me what is going on? Where are we, and what did you do to me?"

I jumped at the sound of Claire's voice, having all but forgotten that she had just woken up.

"I'm not sure", Alice replied. "Please come with us. There are some questions we need to ask you."

"Are you nuts? You've abducted me and taken me to some forest in the middle of the night, and now you expect me to come with you? You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid we can't let you go. This'll be quick, I promise."

With that Alice tore of the bottom of my shirt, blindfolded Claire and lifted the girl onto her shoulders.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" I hissed, concerned that Claire would become even more suspicious if we carried her to our place in less than a minute.

"She already knows too much" Alice snapped. "And besides, it's not like we have a lot of options! But just to make sure…"

She carefully tapped Claire on the head, not strong enough to cause permanent damage but enough to knock her out for a while.

When we arrived, our family was already waiting for us on the porch. From their thoughts I gathered that Jasper had informed them of Alice's hasty departure. As soon as they had realized I wasn't there either they had put two and two together. I could see the pity in Carlisle's and Esme's eyes when they saw Alice and me running up the driveway.

"Look son, whatever you've done, we want you to know that we still love you and we don't blame you. You've done so well, nobody is perfect."

Grateful for the Esme's compassion I briefly smiled at her. My face fell however, as I remembered the girl on Alice's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for what I did, but right now we have a bigger problem."

"What do you mean?"

"What happened?"

"Just listen!"

I watched their faces as the sound of Claire's heartbeat registered with each of them.

"You didn't kill her?" Carlisle looked at me proudly.

"No. I am ashamed to say that I did. Or at least I thought I did. But after Alice arrived she suddenly woke up, like nothing had happened. I swear! It wasn't normal."

"That's impossible!"

"From a medical point of view I agree Emmett, but I'm telling you she woke up right in front of me. Alice can vouch for that."

"I don't believe it!" Rosalie was livid. "You MORON! Almost losing it during gym class was bad enough, but now you actually killed her! And if that wasn't bad enough, she came back to life. What are supposed to do NOW! We can't just let her go!"

"I know, which is why I came here. I mean I can't kill her again to see if she stays dead, but I can't let her go either. Not now…"

"Look Edward, why don't you take her up to my study? If I could take a look at her, maybe we can figure out what she is. It seems she could be a very interesting medical case."

"Thank you Carlisle."

He motioned the others to remain downstairs, but I noticed Alice joining us as we walked up to his study. She probably wanted firsthand information concerning the girl's condition; after all, she had seen Claire some back from the dead.

"Edward, would you please clear my desk, so I can put her down? Alice, do you know when she'll wake up?"

"Not long, only a few more seconds."

I carefully watched Claire's expression as she stirred and opened her eyes. During our previous encounters I had been too focused on her blood to notice, but as I tried to read her mind I realized I couldn't hear any of her thoughts. It was like something was blocking them. There was nothing, no noise, not even images, coming through. Depending on how much she knew about us I might have to ask her about that curious silence in her thoughts some time, but right now I had to stay focused on the task at hand.

"Where am I? Who are you? What did you do to me now!"

She looked furious. Obviously Alice's knock on the head hadn't erased the memory of our brief encounter in the forest.

"My name is Carlisle. I'm Edward's and Alice's father. You are in our home."

"You have no right to kidnap me! Let me go or I promise you you'll regret it! If my dad finds out there will be hell to pay!"

"I'm really sorry but we can't allow you to leave just yet. We need to ask you some questions."

"Yeah, about that…. There's something really wrong with your son. He took me from my room and dragged me into some forest. I just remember waking up there and seeing his face when…"

Her face went blank and she grabbed the side of her head where I delivered my lethal blow.

"Did you kill me?"

I stared at her not sure what to say.

"Seriously what did you do?"

For the first time she looked afraid which confused me. She should have been scared in the woods when she was all alone with me and Alice or when she woke up in here, but not now when there was clearly no imminent threat to her. Unless there was more to her survival than we had thought. The way she had wondered if I'd killed her… Normally that wasn't a question you could ask, seeing as the dead weren't particularly talkative. Led by a sudden impulse I picked up a pencil and brushed my hand past her arm in one swift motion, using just enough force so that the tip of the pencil would piece her skin.

She didn't even flinch!

Most humans wouldn't have noticed what I had done, but my family wasn't human. We all watched at the small tear on her arm vanished before a single drop of blood could ooze out.

Although the pencil didn't seem to have caused Claire any pain she had seen what I'd done. She looked terrified when she realized that we had seen her arm heal.

"Look, I can explain…"

She didn't seem to know what to say.

"Okay maybe I can't. But please, you can't tell ANYONE!"

"Don't worry", Carlisle smiled in an attempt to calm her down. "your secret is safe with us."

"But there's something different about you guys as well. Are you special, like me?"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"Well… you're super fast, you're skin seems unnaturally cold and I'm pretty sure your eyes change colour."

I shot Alice a concerned look. We had always anticipated that Claire would have noticed SOMETHING was off about us, we just hadn't expected her to be quite as observant. I saw as Alice searched the future ahead, looking for any signs of betrayal from Claire.

_I don't think she'll reveal our secret. She knows we know about her, but if we don't tell her she might get desperate and start asking questions. It feels as though she isn't used to being in a vulnerable position like this one, and if we don't show her some trust she might try to expose us._

Alice was right, but I still wanted Carlisle's opinion.

"What do you think?" I murmured. "Should we tell her?"

"I think it's best to tell her about us" Carlisle replied equally quiet. "We know her secret, it's

only fair she knows ours, and besides, she'll figure it out soon enough anyway."

Our quiet encounter had gone unnoticed by Claire, who was studying the painting of the Volturi on Carlisle's wall.

"We're not special."

Claire jumped at the sound of Alice's voice.

"We're vampires."

"Wow, I thought those only existed in stories. I guess it makes sense though, with all the stuff you can do."

"You mean you're not scared?"

"Of course not! You seem very nice, as long as you're not abducting me."

I couldn't believe it. Any normal human would've been terrified at being in the same room with numerous vampires, yet Claire seemed completely at ease. It was as though the revelation of our secret had lifted a boulder off her chest. After a moment I realized that in her mind we must be even now, at least in terms of secrets. She was fully aware that we would keep her secret or she would reveal ours.

"About that… I'd really like to go home now. It's almost sunrise and I wasn't kidding about my dad going crazy."

"Certainly, you may go whenever you please" Carlisle replied. "We don't want you to feel imprisoned."

"Okay, so I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow in school?" Claire asked as we walked downstairs and to the front door. "Oh and could someone please give me a lift? I didn't exactly arrive by car."

"Sure, I can take you" Alice smiled.

_It's probably best if you're not in an enclosed space with her. I can handle it don't worry. Besides I still have the feeling I know her from somewhere._

I nodded in agreement. There was no reason for me to push it today. Claire had suffered enough at my hands. I watched as Alice and Claire got into my Volvo. Maybe things would work out after all.

**Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm afraid it's a bit rushed so please let me know about any mistakes and I'll correct them. I was thinking about bringing in some other heroes as well, so please let me know how you feel about that. Don't forget to review, and have a Happy New Year"**


	4. Chapter 4

**As I'm starting to bring in more heroes characters I just want to add that all of this is happening sort of during season three of Heroes. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with everything so I don't want to give a definite time, but Peter still has his original power(s).**

**I'd like to say thanks to all of you who have sent me reviews, please keep them coming. It just makes my day if someone takes a minute to give me some feedback on my story. Please don't hold back with any criticism or things that you'd like me to do differently. After all I'm writing this for an audience ;-)**

_**Claire's p.o.v.**_

I had seen a great deal of strange things being around other specials, but I had never encountered anything remotely similar to the Cullen family. Sitting in the car, I noticed Alice looking expectantly at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Uhmm can I help you?"

I didn't like it when people stared at me, and Alice wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Maybe, I'm not sure… every time I look at you I get this feeling that I know you. It's quite annoying actually. You see, vampires have an excellent memory and I would DEFINITELY remember you."

"Well if it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure we've never met before."

"Hmmm"

It was obvious that Alice didn't want to elaborate on the subject so I used the time to get some of the questions I had, off my chest.

"I know this isn't something you'd normally ask in a polite conversation, but how old are you?"

"I'm one-hundred and eleven years old. I was turned when I was 19."

"You don't look a day over 18."

"Neither do you", Alice grinned.

"According to someone I knew, who had the same ability as me, I will remain this way forever."

"Wow, I didn't know that. So you won't age?"

"Well he was over 400 and looked like he was in his early thirties."

"That's impressive! So how many people are there like you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Exactly like me? None that I know of. People with abilities? I'm not sure but quite a few I think.

What about vampires? Are you the only ones or are there more?"

"There are a few hundred I think. Most of us don't live in covens as large as ours though, so it's hard to say", Alice replied.

"Oh that's my driveway, I'd better get out. Crap, looks like my Dad noticed I left. What time is it?"

"Four a.m. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'll deal with him on my own. Thanks for the lift."

"No problem, see you later."

I walked up the driveway to the porch where Dad was already holding the door open.

"Where on earth have you been Claire? It's four in the morning! What happened to your clothes; is that blood?"

I looked down at my pyjamas. They hadn't survived the little trip to the forest with Edward as well as I had. My top was muddy and there was blood on the collar.

"Look I don't want to talk about it, okay? I'm tired and I have school later, can't we discuss this some other time?"

"No we can't discuss this some other time! What did you expect? That you could just waltz in here at this ridiculous hour and get away with it?"

"No, of course not. But I'm really tired, I promise I'll explain everything later, but right now I just want to go to bed."

"Fine, but don't think you'll get away with this young lady!"

"I didn't think I would" I groaned.

I hadn't expected him to be up. This was a disaster! I couldn't tell him where I'd been so I would have to come up with a damn good excuse. Right now however, I didn't care. All I wanted to do was go to bed. I guess dying had taken a lot more out of me than I liked to acknowledge.

_**A Few Hours Later…**_

Although I was still a little tired I couldn't wait to get to school. I was desperate to talk to the Cullens about keeping our secrets well, secret. Fortunately Mom was already up, making breakfast so my conversation with Dad would have to be postponed until tonight.

"Good morning Claire, would you like some toast?"

"Yes please."

"Remember I won't be here this afternoon. I have to take Mr. Muggles to the vet for his annual check-up."

"Okay. What time will you be back?"

"Not too late. Around five-thirty if everything works out."

Once I'd finished breakfast I quickly got ready to leave. There was no way I wanted to run into Dad before I'd come up with a plausible lie.

"Hurry up Lyle or I'll leave without you!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Bye Mom"

"See you tonight sweetie, have a great day, both of you."

I sprinted to the car as it was, yet again, raining. One of the things I really missed about living in the south was the warm weather.

Our ride to school was quiet. Lyle was busy listening to his iPod while I was mentally preparing myself for my inevitable encounter with the Cullens. I would have to be very careful about how much information I revealed. Maybe I should contact Peter. He would be able to help me.

_**Edward's p.o.v. (back in time at four a.m.) **_

After Claire and Alice had left, the others returned to the living room. Although they hadn't been in Carlisle's study with us I knew that they had heard our entire conversation. The revelation of Claire's ability had distracted them, at least momentarily, from what I'd done to her. It was evident in their thoughts that none of them had encountered anything remotely similar to her.

"Is she going to be alright?"

Concern was written all over Esme's face.

"Is she alright?" Rosalie scoffed. "Shouldn't we be more concerned with the fact that she knows our secret?"

"I don't think that'll be a problem", Carlisle assured her. "She knows that if she exposes us she risks exposing her own secret."

"Does that mean we have to leave again?" Emmett asked.

"I don't think that's necessary. I couldn't read her mind but she seemed trustworthy."

"You couldn't hear her thoughts?" Jaspers face displayed a mixture of concern and confusion.

"How is that even possible? I thought you could read everyone's mind."

"Well, apparently not. Besides, if she decides to talk Alice will let us know."

"Fine", Rosalie grumbled.

"Look, maybe it's better if we leave the subject alone for now. We'll talk to her in school tomorrow. There's nothing we can do right now, so I suggest we carry on as usual."

A wave of relief washed through me when the others nodded in approval. I needed some time to think. The girl eluded me on so many levels. I had a lot of questions for her.

I had spent the remaining time before school, searching the internet for anything that might explain Claire's ability, but my efforts were in vain. I hadn't been particularly hopeful to begin with though. If the information I was looking for was on the internet I would have known about it.

When I pulled the Volvo into an empty space on the school's car park I noticed that Claire's car was already there. Suddenly I felt unsure. How would she react to seeing us? Last night everything had happened so fast, but now that she'd had some time to think things through… Hopefully she hadn't said anything. I shot a worried glance at Alice.

"Can you see anything?"

"No. Nothing so far, but I'll keep tabs on her just in case she decides to do anything stupid."

"Thanks", I smiled at her gratefully.

Monitoring the other students' minds I noticed that Claire was already on her way to the English class Alice and I attended.

"Come on Alice, let's go. We don't want to be late for class." I added a little sarcastically.

"I can't wait!" Alice rolled her eyes at me.

"We'll see you guys at lunch okay?"

The others simply nodded in agreement.

By the time we arrived in class most of the other students had already arrived. I kept my eyes fixed on Claire's face as we walked in. Not being able to read her mind was extremely frustrating so I watched her expression closely in an attempt to figure out what she was thinking. When she saw us her smile faltered a little but she quickly pulled herself together and looked away, turning back to her conversation with Angela.

"Claire seems fine" I murmured to Alice.

_We'll talk to her at lunch; she's already planning to join us at our table._

Satisfied with this information I carefully watched Claire for the rest of the morning. She seemed a little tired, but otherwise nothing in her behaviour indicated that she had spent a rather unusual night away from home. She was quiet, not antisocial, but she rarely spoke to anyone unless anyone had directly addressed her first. Initially I thought that she was traumatised by the events of last night, but then I realized it was something else. She was deliberately maintaining a low profile, no doubt in an attempt to hide her secret. This realization made me more confident. She wouldn't betray us; she was far too concerned with remaining invisible herself.

_**Claire's p.o.v.**_

Throughout the day I noticed Edward watching me, as if I was a dangerous animal. He didn't seriously think that I'd reveal their secret did he? He knew about my ability. Betraying him would be like digging my own grave. I was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the situation though. Although I had tried to put on a brave face last night, I didn't like being outnumbered seven to one. I decided that I'd talk to them at lunch, but I wouldn't go back to their place until I had some backup. I'd have to call Peter. He was the only Special who could visit me without arousing my Dad's suspicion. It'd just be a family visit from my uncle, nothing more. Although I desperately wanted an ally I knew I couldn't tell my Dad. He would go ballistic if he found out what Edward had done to me. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy being a human pincushion, I wished he weren't so overprotective all the time.

As I walked into the cafeteria for lunch I immediately noticed the Cullen's table and made my way towards it.

"How nice of you to join us. Please, sit down." Alice smiled at me.

"Did you recover alright from last night?"

Edward still looked as though he felt guilty.

"I can't apologize enough for my behaviour."

"It's okay, trust me. I've been through worse… What I really came to talk to you about though is our secret. I need your reassurance that you won't tell anyone about me, or I'll be forced to expose you secret as well."

"Don't worry" Jasper replied in a soothing voice. "We have no intention of revealing anything. Like you, we have to maintain a low profile."

Strangely Jasper's words had a calming effect on me. Everything would be fine.

"If you don't mind, it might be best if you returned to sit with the others now. People are beginning to notice you." Alice pointed out.

And she was right. As I looked around the cafeteria I noticed that several students had turned their heads towards our table.

"Of course. So I guess I'll see you guys around."

With that I got out of my chair and made my way back to the table Angela and Mike were sitting at.

"Since when are you talking to Cullen?" Mike asked indignantly.

"It was nothing. What is it to you anyway?"

Mike looked appropriately embarrassed and lowered his gaze without an answer.

I spent the rest of lunch sitting quietly next to Angela while the others were discussing prom dresses. I couldn't wait for the last two periods to finish and to go home.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the final bell rang and I left the Geography classroom. Fortunately Lyle was already at the car so I could leave without running into the Cullens again.

As soon as we arrived home I grabbed the phone and dialled Peter's number.

"Hello?"

"Peter? It's me, Claire."

"Claire, is everything alright?"

"Actually no. Something happened that I can't tell Dad and I really need your help. It involves Specials."

"What happened? Did someone find out about you power?"

"Well yes, but it's complicated. Please, can you come? I'll explain everything then. This is something I'd rather not discuss over the phone."

"Don't worry Claire I'll be there in half an hour."

"Thanks."

**I hope you enjoyed my update. I know everything is moving a little slow at the moment but I'll try and pick things up in the next chapter. Please remember to Rate and Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's another chapter update. Sorry it took me so long, but I'm very busy at the moment so it'll probably be while until I update again. I hope you like it. Please don't forget to R&R.**

_**Claire's p.o.v.**_

I felt a wave of relief wash through me when Peter agreed to come. Finally the sinking feeling I'd been suffering from ever since last night, began to ebb off. Deciding that it was best if I told my brother that we were about to have a visitor, I walked downstairs.

"Lyle, where are you?"

"In the living room. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Peter is coming around in about 20 minutes. You remember my uncle right?"

"I guess. Have you asked Mom and Dad yet?"

"No, but they'll find out as soon as they get home. He's family after all…"

"Sure, whatever. But don't complain to me if Dad gets mad. You know he's not a big fan of other specials coming here. He's worried they could expose us."

"Don't worry. I've got it under control."

Deep down I knew Lyle was right, Dad would be mad, but right now I didn't care. I desperately needed someone to talk to and Peter was my best option.

I was just upstairs getting the guest room ready when I heard a knock at the front door. I sprinted downstairs and opened the door.

"Hey Peter! Thank you so much for making it here so fast. Please, come in."

"Hi Claire. It's good to see you. Hello Lyle", he added in a slightly raised voice.

"Hi." Lyle was obviously not as thrilled about seeing Peter as I was.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Come up to my room. It's probably best if my little brother doesn't hear this."

Lyle just rolled his eyes at me and returned to the living room to watch TV.

"Remember what I said about someone finding out about me?"

"Yeah, I do. Claire you really need to be more careful. You've only been here for a week and already someone knows about you. Noah isn't going to like this when he finds out!"

"Look, it wasn't my fault I swear. I'll explain, but you have to promise not to freak out alright?"

"Fine, I promise. So what happened?"

"Well there's this guy at my school, he's called Edward. Yesterday in gym class another someone accidently hit me with a badminton racket during PE. It was nothing, honestly but Edward suddenly sprinted out of the room like a madman. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but last night he dragged me out of my bed into the forest-"

"He did WHAT!" Peter interrupted.

"Just wait. I don't remember much from that, because as soon as I woke up in the forest everything went black. When I came to his sister Alice was suddenly there with us, though she might have been there before and I simply didn't notice. I was only able to ask them where I was before everything went dark again. When I woke up I was at their house in Carlisle's study. He's their Dad. They were friendly to me, but from what I found out Edward must have killed me. They know about my secret and as you can see there's nothing I could've done to stop it!" I didn't realize I had started shaking until I noticed the concerned look on Peter's face.

"I'm so sorry Claire. I wish I could have been there for you", he hugged me. "What are we going to do now though? It's only a matter of time before they'll tell someone about you."

"Actually that's the second thing I wanted talk to you about. They're not human."

"What do you mean? Are they specials too?"

"Not exactly. They're vampires."

"Are you kidding? I thought they only existed in stories."

"Unfortunately not."

"So last night, this Edward, he drank your blood?"

"It seems that way."

"That is awful Claire, I'm so sorry. Someone needs to punish him. Did he at least apologize?"

"He has. Several times, actually. This is the reason I wanted you here though. I need to talk to them, find out more about them, but I don't like the idea of going to their house outnumbered seven to one. Please, will you come with me?"

"Of course! I'll always be there for you Claire, you know that. When do you want to go?"

"Uhmm I actually hadn't thought that through, but I'll call them okay? Just give me a sec."

I quickly turned on the computer and looked up their number. Alice was the one who answered the phone.

"Hello, Claire."

"How do you know it was me?"

"I'll explain when the two of you come round in a minute. See you then."

Before I could ask any more questions she hung up the phone.

"Wow, that was strange."

"What did she say, can we come?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. It was like she knew what I was about to ask her. Well I guess we'd better get going. It's a bit of a drive."

"Oh don't worry about that, I have Hiro's power remember? Can you point out to me where they live, on a map?"

As soon as I showed him he grabbed my shoulder and teleported us right to their front door. Alice was already holding it open and beaming at us.

"Please, come in. Thank you for coming."

I noticed Peter stiffen as we walked through the front door and saw Edward sitting on the stairs. He must've read my mind and seen Edward's face.

"What the hell did you do to Claire? You're going to pay for this!" I'd never seen Peter this angry.

"I'm truly sorry, you have no idea. I never wanted to hurt her." Edward looked miserable.

"Well, it's bit late for that, don't you think?"

Suddenly Peter's hands started glowing.

"Calm down! Don't do anything you'll regret", I urged him grabbing him by the wrists. I didn't feel the pain when his hands burnt me, but I could smell the burning flesh and I saw the two vampires stiffen.

"I'm sorry Claire", Peter murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Of course. I always am", I showed him my palms where the last strips of seared skin where healing.

"What was that?" Edward choked. "Alice told me you could teleport, but burning hands? How come you have more than one power?"

Peter shot me a questioning look. I nodded in encouragement. The vampires had already seen his power, sooner or later he'd have to tell them anyway. It was better to show our cooperation. However, if we were going to put our cards on the table then the vampires should do the same.

"Wait! Before you answer that question, why don't you ask the rest of the family to join us." I suggested.

As soon as I had uttered the last word the others appeared at the top of the stairs and made their way into the living room.

_**Edward's p.o.v.**_

This was beyond my wildest imagination. The fact that Claire had the ability to rapidly heal herself was already fascinating. But Peter… he was so much more than that. If he could teleport and burn people with the touch of his hands who knew what else he was capable of.

Although I usually refrained from reading people's minds to satisfy my personal curiosity, I just couldn't stop myself from probing into Peter's mind. It was unlike anything I had expected. While my attempts to hear Claire's thoughts had failed as there had been silence, Peter's mind was a completely different matter. Rather than silence I was met with a barrier that blocked me out. I quickly looked at him and it became evident that he was aware of what I was trying to do, and he wasn't happy about it.

"Stay the hell out of my head!" he hissed.

Before I could apologize I felt an invisible force pounding inside my skull.

"What are you doing?" I gasped.

"See, I didn't think you'd like it either. Edward here, has been holding out on us" he told Claire with a sour expression on his face.

She looked genuinely confused: "What do you mean? And why did you tell him to get out of your head? Can he-?"

"-Read minds? Yeah. I guess he forgot to tell you that tiny little detail."

"Edward, how did he know?" Carlisle looked bewildered.

"Because he can read minds too!"

My family looked as baffled as I felt.

"He can read minds?" It was evident that Rosalie didn't enjoy the idea that there were now two people who could hear her thoughts.

"Wait, wait, wait!", Emmett interrupted. "Am I the only one getting really confused here? Who is this guy, and what's all this talk about reading each other's minds?"

"This is Peter", Claire replied. "He's my uncle, and like me he's…special."

"So he can heal?"

"Yeah, but it's different. He can also-"

"Wait, Claire!" Peter interjected. "Before we tell you anything else we want to know if you guys have any other abilities besides reading minds."

Before I could say anything Alice responded: "Edward is the only one who can read minds. Jasper and I are the only other ones who have 'superpowers'. He can feel and change your emotions, while I can see the future. Well, glimpses of it anyway."

"So you're a precog?" Claire asked.

"A what?"

"Precog. That's what we call people who can see the future. My grandmother's a precog… How do you do it though? I've met precogs who paint the future, my grandmother dreams about it. How do you do it?"

"I sort of just see what's about to happen. Like visions. But I can only see what will happen once a person has made up their mind. If they change it, their mind I mean, then the future changes. Now it's you turn", she added, looking at Peter and Claire. "Tell us about your abilities."

"Well, you already know what I can do", Claire said.

"How does it work though?" Carlisle asked. "How much can you survive? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm pretty indestructible", she sighed. "I've jumped of buildings, been on fire, more people than I care to remember have shot me. Of course I've had the everyday accidents such as cutting myself accidentally with a knife or a piece of glass. I also can't get drunk or suffocate as my liver and lungs just keep regenerating. More interestingly I've survived a severe electrocution and a small nuclear explosion."

When she finished I could see the shock written all over the faces of my family. The way Claire had shrugged off getting killed by me, I should have guessed that she had had some pretty horrible things done to her, but this was beyond anything I had expected. I had noticed how Peter's features had hardened as Claire had recounted her injuries. He didn't seem surprised, but the way he looked at her, I knew that he wanted to kill each and every person who had ever harmed her.

To my surprise Esme carefully made her way across the room, keeping her eyes locked on Peter in case he attempted to stop her, and hugged Claire.

"I'm so sorry dear. I can't imagine what that must've been like. But I promise you, we won't harm you."

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself", Claire smiled cautiously at my adopted mother.

I felt a great pain well up inside of me. Claire seemed mature beyond her years and suddenly I realized that this maturity stemmed from what she had endured. One couldn't walk through life, especially at such a young age and shrug off the horrific injuries she had suffered without being affected psychologically. As I looked at her I noticed she seemed tired. It wasn't the lack of sleep; this fatigue ran deeper-a lot deeper. She looked like something had been broken inside of her a long time ago and each time she was assaulted by monsters like me she died a little inside. As the realization of what I'd done fully hit me it took all my willpower to stay standing. If I still could I would've cried, now that I fully understood the implications of my actions.

My inner turmoil had gone unnoticed by the others, of course. Yet, they still seemed subdued by what they'd just heard. They didn't suffer from a guilty conscience as I was, but they still felt the pain Claire was experiencing.

Breaking the tension, Peter cleared his throat: "You wanted to know what I can do? It's actually pretty simple. You see, I have one ability, just like all the other specials I know. My ability however, let's me copy the abilities of other specials. When I met Claire, for example, I'd fallen off a building at her high school. Someone had just tried to kill her when she found me, so she was still healing after the assault. I didn't know what I was doing, but my ability kicked in automatically and I healed."

"So how many abilities do you have now?" Emmet asked.

"I don't know" Peter replied. "Over the years I've come in contact with a lot of specials, I guess I've kind of lost track."

"Well, can you at least tell us about some of them?" Emmett clearly wasn't going to let it go.

"I can fly, teleport through time and space, heal, see the future either through dreaming it or painting it. I can read and control minds, use telekinesis, walk through walls and create electricity."

"What about the glowing hands?"

"Oh, that's radioactivity. I almost wiped out New York City with that one."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side" Emmett grinned.

"So how come you're here in Forks?" Carlisle asked.

"My Dad" Claire replied. "He worked for a company responsible for locking dangerous specials up. A few years ago though the company was destroyed and we've been on the run ever since."

"What do they want from him?"

"It's not him, they wanted. It was me. When I was a baby the company gave me into the custody of my Dad as an assignment. He's not my biological father, he's my adoptive father. When I was fifteen my ability manifested, but instead of handing me over to the company for experimentation, he kept me hidden. Unfortunately when I survived the nuclear blast, one of the company men was present, so we've been running away since that day."

"But you said the company was destroyed" Esme pointed out.

"Others took its place. A special sector of the government started hunting us about a year ago. Unlike the company they don't differentiate between dangerous and safe abilities. This means I'm on their radar as well, even though I can't use my ability to hurt anyone."

Everyone jumped when Claire's cell phone started to ring.

"Crap, it's him" she groaned and walked to the corner of the room. "Hi, Dad!"

Thanks to my heightened senses I could pick up what her father was saying as well.

"Claire, where are you? And what is Peter doing here? Lyle told me you'd invited him. Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is fine, I promise."

"I don't want you inviting him without asking me first, do you understand? The fewer people who know where we are, the better."

"He'd never betray us and you know that!" Claire was suddenly angry.

"Look, just come home please. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Can't it wait Dad? I'm sort of busy right now."

"You wanted me to keep you in the loop about our situation, and well, that's what I'm trying to do. Unless you don't want that anymore…"

"No, I'll be right there. Bye."

"I'm afraid we need to go now", she apologized. "Come on Peter."

"Is everything all right?" I asked, pretending as though I hadn't heard both sides of the phone conversation.

"Yeah, everything is fine. My Dad just wants me to come home, sorry. I guess I'll see most of you at school."

With that Peter grabbed her arm and they both vanished.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here you go. I know it took a while, but I hope you enjoy it. Please don't forget to R&R. I always appreciate constructive criticism.**

**Claire's p.o.v.**

Peter teleported us right back into my room. I was surprised to see my Dad sitting on my bed looking worried rather than angry.

"What's wrong Dad?"

"I've been doing some digging on the people in this town. Just running background checks, that sort of thing, you know…."

"And…?"

"Have you met the Cullens at school yet?"

I exchanged a nervous glance with Peter. "Yeah I have, why?"

"Well I noticed something strange about them when I ran my checks. They don't seem to exist until a few years ago."

"Is that it? Maybe they were in witness protection or something…"

I didn't like where this conversation was heading. If my Dad kept digging it was only a matter of time until he found out about them. And if he discovered their secret we would have to move again. Despite the bad weather I was beginning to like Forks. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only person keeping secrets. Besides, the Cullens fascinated me. I had seen a lot of bizarre things but vampires were definitely at the top of my list.

"I wasn't finished yet, Claire! You know we can't take the risk that they MIGHT have been under witness protection so I tried to find out more about them but I just couldn't. So I asked Micah for help-"

"You did WHAT?!" I interrupted. "All this time you've been telling me to stay away from specials, even Peter, and you've been in contact with Micah?!"

"It was for your own good Claire-bear. I only asked for his help to protect you. Besides, I doubt Rebel would turn on us."

"Fine!"

"Even with Micah's help I couldn't dig up anything about their past except for one thing…"

"Come on Dad, just tell us."

"Micah found records of a girl called Mary Alice Brandon. She looks almost identical to Alice Cullen."

"So? What's the big deal?"

"Claire, Mary Alice Brandon died in a psychiatric facility over ninety years ago."

"That's impossible!"

"Maybe not. You see the facility was one of the predecessors of the Company."

"I thought the Company had no predecessors", Peter interjected.

"There have been people with abilities for hundreds of years and as long as they've been around there have been people, 'Companies' if you like, who have been monitoring them. Anyway, Mary Alice was sent to the facility because she had certain premonitions, visions of the future. They ran experiments on her and kept her locked up. Back then they had significantly less regard for people's rights than we did at the Company."

Peter snorted and rolled his eyes.

Ignoring him, Noah continued: "I'm not sure why she died, she seemed healthy. After her death one of the members of the night staff vanished without a trace. He hadn't been at the facility very long. If there's a chance he was responsible for her death, the people in charge ignored it. I assume they wouldn't want to draw any attention to themselves. Oh, before I forget – here's a photo of Mary Alice."

The similarities between Mary Alice Brandon and Alice Cullen were striking. Alice was slightly prettier in comparison, but other than that the two girls looked eerily identical. I shot Peter a worried glance but he was too preoccupied with the photo to notice. What was I going to tell my father. _Actually Dad, Alice is vampire who's over a hundred years old. Oh and the rest of the Cullens are vampires too, just in case you were wondering. _Yeah right. For now I decided to play clueless.

"So what does it mean?"

"I'm not sure yet but don't get too comfortable in Forks. Even if this Alice doesn't pose a threat, her presence might alert Danko and his agents."

I suppressed a groan. This was the last thing I wanted but I decided to wait for now. I wanted to talk to Peter about it. Maybe he'd have an idea on how to get out of this mess.

After my Dad had left my room I started pacing back and forth in my room: "We need to talk to Alice again!" I told Peter after a while.

"Are you sure we should be getting involved in this Claire? Maybe it's better if we just let it go.

This isn't our problem. Besides, what makes you think she'll tell us anything?"

"I don't know if she'll cooperate, but you can always read her mind…"

"Fine, but before we leave I need to tell you something."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, at least not yet. But while we were with the Cullens I read their minds…" he smiled apologetically.

"And…?"

"Well there was nothing particularly alarming given the situation, but Carlisle, he was very curious about the limits of your ability. He's considered testing them. He won't do anything without your permission, which is the only reason I didn't take you away from them right then and there. I know how curious you are about finding out how far you can go, Claire; especially after you filmed all those attempts to kill yourself a while ago. I'm serious though. He doesn't just want to test the normal things, but also some crazy vampire stuff."

"Are you sure? That's not something I would've expected from him. Look we can talk about it later, but right now I we have to go back and talk to Alice!"

"Are you sure about this, Claire? What if your Dad finds out?"

"Who said Dad had to know? Look he's pretty distracted at the moment. He even forgot to ask me about what happened this morning. Just get us over there, we won't stay long, I promise."

"Okay."

With a resigned look Peter grabbed my arm and teleported us back to the Cullen's porch.

**Alice's p.o.v.**

I had been watching Peter and Claire carefully, to make sure that we could act in case they decided to tell anyone about us, so I had time to tell my family about their impeding return once Claire had decided to come back. From her expression I could see that she wasn't surprised when she saw us waiting for them. I interpreted her reaction as further confirmation that she was quite used to the supernatural. While Claire seemed relatively comfortable in our presence Peter still wasn't entirely at ease. He shot a few angry glances at Edward. I couldn't tell if that was because of what my brother had done to Claire or if it was because of the mind reading, though. From what Edward had told me, he was constantly flooded with information from other people's minds without making an effort to read them. He had to concentrate to tune them out. After the little mind reading encounter between him and Peter earlier, I guessed that Peter had to make an effort to read a person's mind, so he was probably annoyed with Edward for the constant intrusion.

In an attempt to make Peter feel less of an aversion towards us I smiled at him.

"I saw you coming…"

"I thought as much, which is why I didn't bother to call ahead" he said with a sour expression.

"So why did you decide to come?" I asked, ignoring his remark.

"We have some questions for you Alice.." Claire replied. She had probably decided that it would be better if she was the one doing the talking.

"What about?" I hadn't seen that coming.

"Your human life" she said with some uncertainty in her voice.

This was strange. I had been turned into a vampire almost a century ago. Why would they want to know about my life as a mortal?

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid that I can't answer your questions" I said without quite managing to keep the sadness out of my voice.

"Why not? It's important! If you won't tell us, Peter can always read you mind, you know…"

"I swear I would answer your questions if I could but I can't remember my human life at all."

"I'm sorry. Is it because you were turned into a vampire?"

"No, it has nothing to do with that. All the others can still remember most of their life before they were turned. It's not as easy as remembering parts of our vampire existence but they manage."

"I'm so sorry, I can't help it!"

My eyes darted over to Edward who was looking at Peter with a bashful expression. Peter was glaring at him looking strained. I surmised that it was something to do with mind reading.

"Peter what's wrong?" Claire was immediately concerned.

"He. keeps. trying. to. read. my. mind. "he pressed out.

Suddenly I had a vision of Peter. His hands were getting brighter and brighter…

"Peter, maybe it's best if you left!"

His shocked expression told me that he had read my mind and seen the same disconcerting vision.

"Fine!" he spat. "Claire, let's go!"

"No. I'm going to stay here. I want to talk to Carlisle about a few things. You go ahead and wait in my room. If my Dad comes up you need to come and get me before he realizes we've left."

I could see the hesitation in his eyes and so could Claire apparently: "I'll be fine. You know me!"

She flashed him a crooked grin.

I could see the pain it caused him to have to leave her behind, but with a last glance at Edward, Peter disappeared.

**Claire's p.o.v.**

Ever since Peter had told me about what he'd heard in Carlisle's thoughts I hadn't been able to get his words out of my mind. Peter, had been right about one thing, I did want to explore the limits of my abilities further. For some reason I felt that with a better understanding of what I was capable of, I could better accept my ability. Ever since Sylar had cut open my head and I had lost the ability to feel pain, I felt a numbness in my body that I couldn't shake. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted to feel pain again. I wanted a reminder that I was still human. Carlisle was a doctor and therefore my best, and perhaps only, chance at figuring out what had gone wrong. Who knew, maybe he could even fix me.

I didn't want Peter to find out about it, just yet. He would read it in their minds soon enough, but it didn't want him to stop me. I needed to do this for the sake of my own sanity.

"Carlisle, can I talk to you?"

I heard Alice draw in a sharp breath. She had probably seen what was about to happen as soon as I'd made up my mind about it. Ignoring her for the time being, I turned back to the oldest vampire.

"Sure. Why don't we go to my study where we won't be disturbed."

He glanced at the others who quickly left the room claiming they wanted to use the impending thunderstorm for a game of baseball.

"So, what is it that you want to talk to me about?" he asked with a warm smile. I instantly felt less worried about what I was going ask of him.

"When when we met earlier Peter read your mind. He said that you wanted to perform experiments on me-"

"Please Claire, don't take this the wrong way. I would never do anything to you without your expressed permission. I'm afraid my medical curiosity got the better of me. I'm sorry."

"Don't be! Peter told me that you'd never do anything to me against my will." I took a deep breath to steady myself, "I'm here because I need your help, and I want to help you."

I briefly explained what had happened when Sylar had attacked me, and the effect it had had on my ability. From Carlisle's expression it became evident that he was a deeply compassionate man.

"I'm so sorry Claire. I can't imagine the things you must have suffered through. Are you sure you want to do this though?"

"Yes! You're the only doctor I know that I can trust to keep quiet about my ability, while at the same time not doing anything against my will."

"If you feel that way…when do you want to begin?"

"Now, if that's all right with you."

"Certainly", he smiled. "Please, take a seat on my chair."

"So what are you going to do first?"

"Well, if you don't mind I'd like to take a closer look at the way your skin heals itself."

"No problem. Do you have a knife or something?"

"Here you go", he handed me a scalpel.

I saw a shadow cross his face when I made the incision. He clearly was not entirely comfortable with me having to injure myself just so that we could find out more about how my ability worked.

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked when the cut had healed itself.

"Your ability is truly extraordinary. The rate of cellular regeneration surpasses everything I have previously encountered. And it doesn't hurt you at all, are you sure?"

"Yes one hundred percent" I could help but smile at his concern. "So, what do you want to try next?"

"Well, after everything you've told me it seems as though you're pretty indestructible when it comes to blunt force trauma. What about poison? Can you heal from that?"

"No idea. I've never been poisoned before, at least not that I know of."

"Hmmm, in that case we'd better start off with something that isn't lethal…"

He rummaged through a cabinet and returned with a syringe filled with clear liquid.

"This is cobra venom. A small dosage won't kill you and I have the antidote right here, in case your ability doesn't protect you from the venom. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Definitely!"

I felt the needle pierce my skin, but it wasn't painful, as usual. If the venom had any effect on my body, I didn't know about it.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine, I don't feel a thing."

"If it's all right with you I'll try a stronger venom now. Don't worry, I have an antidote for that as well."

"Sure, but this time I'll inject it myself."

"Of course, but make sure you only use very little. This particular venom is strong enough to kill an elephant instantly with only a very small dose."

I nodded but decided to ignore him. The other venom had had no effect on me whatsoever. I was confident that my ability also protected me from poison. The only way to make sure that I couldn't be harmed this way was to take a risk. Besides, he had the antidote in case my ability failed me.

I took the syringe he offered me and stuck its needle into my left arm. Before he could stop me I pushed the plunger down all the way, in one swift move. Suddenly I couldn't move my hands anymore. The syringe slipped through my fingers and landed on the floor. My knees buckled and I collapsed as I lost all feeling and control over my legs. In an instant Carlisle was at my side, another syringe in his hand.

"No, don't!" I whispered.

He looked at me with confusion in his face. Before he could inject me with the antidote I raised my arm as I began to regain feeling in my limbs.

"It's okay", I told him. "I'm fine. I guess my body needed a little longer to handle the stronger dosage."

"Claire, that's incredible. The contents of this syringe were poisonous enough to wipe out a small town, but you just injected yourself with all of it. Your ability is stronger than I had anticipated! Did you feel any pain this time?"

"Nope, still nothing. I just felt numb and I couldn't move anything for a couple of seconds, other than that I'm fine. So what's next?"

"I'm not sure. This venom was about as strong as it gets and it's evident that your body has no trouble handling it. There's one more thing we could try but I'm afraid there's no antidote for it…"

"What is it?"

"Vampire venom."

"You're venomous? But I didn't feel anything after Edward, you know, drained me…"

"I've thought of that, too. I'm convinced however, that as he was drinking your blood he also sucked his venom back out. It never entered your system properly, so naturally you wouldn't have felt its effect. I have to warn you though. Vampire venom is what turns humans into vampires. Even if it doesn't kill you there's a good chance that you'll become one of us."

"How long do we have before it's too late?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean?"

"If you bit me and I didn't heal, couldn't you just suck the venom back out like Edward?"

"I could try, but it's still incredibly risky. In addition to that, vampire venom is also incredibly painful. It's most likely that if you experience pain from it, it will be worse than anything you can imagine, even with your impressive track record for injuries."

This was probably my last chance. None of the other poisonous substances had caused me any pain. If what Carlisle was saying was true, vampire venom could very well be the only thing that could still make me feel pain. Even though it was dangerous, I was willing to take the risks.

"I'll do it!" I replied. "So how does this work anyway? You just bite me?"

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't. I've lived for over 400 years and I've never bitten a human. I'm not about to start now. I'll ask Alice. She's got the most control out of the others. I'm confident she won't hurt you. Alice?"

Although he had barely raised his voice, there was a knock at the door only a few seconds later and Alice stepped into the room. Her expression was filled with concern as her eyes darted between me and Carlisle.

"Please, I'm not sure I can do that, Carlisle. What if I hurt her?"

"I trust you", he replied with a smile.

"So do I", I told her. "Besides, if Edward has taught us anything about my ability, it's that even if you do lose control, it's not going to kill me."

**Alice's p.o.v.**

This was utterly insane. I stared in disbelief at the girl lying on the desk in front of me. How could she want this? After all, she was blessed with the ability to heal from just about any injury and not even have to suffer through pain. She was not only immortal, but unlike us she was still human. Clearly she had some deep masochistic problem and I wasn't particularly excited about indulging her psychosis.

When I looked down into her pleading eyes however, I realized that she wasn't a masochist at all. Like Rosalie she wanted to be human and her inability to experience pain, combined with her ability to heal, caused her to question her humanity. I knew that if my venom caused her pain it would disperse some of those doubts she had about her humanity.

"Where should I bite her?"

"I would suggest her palm. We don't want the venom to be injected too close to the heart, or we might not have enough time to suck it out in case you don't heal, Claire", Carlisle replied.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

Claire looked determined when she replied: "Yes, I'm sure. Believe me, I've tried everything to feel pain again. You have no idea how badly I need this!"

"All right. I'll do it."

I shot Carlisle a nervous glance and tried scanning the future for the outcome of this little experiment but I couldn't determine one. I decided to go ahead with it regardless and stopped searching. I needed all my concentration to focus on not draining Claire. Even though she would survive, I had begun to think of her as a friend, so the thought of draining her and having to look her in the eye afterwards was not at all appealing. I carefully took her hand, a small part of me noticing that she didn't recoil from the touch of my cold skin, and bent down. After glancing over at Carlisle for reassurance I sank my teeth into her skin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took me so long to update but I've been really busy with uni. I hope you enjoy it.**

_**Claire's p.o.v.**_

When Alice teeth pierced my skin it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Carlisle had not been exaggerating when he told me that vampire venom was worse than anything I had ever experienced. As soon as the venom entered my body, fire seemed to erupt in my veins. It hurt so much worse than any of my previous injuries that I could not find the words to describe it. While part of me was glad that I could finally feel pain, no matter how unbearable it was, I mostly just longed for it to go away. And the worst part was that it kept getting more painful. Was I insane? I had just let a vampire bite me with consequences that were clearly beyond anyone's control. While the fire raged through my body I swore to myself that, should I survive this ordeal, I would stop torturing my body to try and feel pain again. If I survived...

The fire was still burning. Why had Alice not sucked the venom back out? With all the force I could muster I slowly sat up. Opening my eyes was nearly impossible but eventually I succeeded. What I saw was more than disconcerting. The entire vampire clan had gathered in the study and they were all staring at me. Their faces looked extremely shocked. I would have given it more thought if my mind had not been so preoccupied with the pain the venom was causing me. Unbelievably so, it kept getting worse. My muscles started contract beyond my control. I had just curled into a ball when the pain suddenly started to subside. Beyond any measure of relief I slowly got up from the desk, the remnants of the flames still flickering through my body. With the pain dissipating and my mind clearing, I remembered the shocked expression on the vampires' faces. I looked up at them and saw them watching me, still looking stunned. Recalling Carlisle's warning that venom turned humans into vampires I examined my hands to see if anything had changed. My hands still looked as tan as before though so apparently the venom had not affected me in that way. The fact that the vampires were still standing frozen on the other side of the room was starting to worry and annoy me at the same time.

"What?! Stop staring at me like that. You're really starting to freak me out!"

_**Alice's p.o.v.**_

It took all the self-control I could muster to not drink Claire's blood. Edward had been right. She tasted unlike anything I had ever tried before. Maybe it was because of her healing ability. Whatever it was, it made it almost impossible to resist the urge to drain her dry. Somehow I managed and pulled away. No sooner had I stepped away from the desk as her hand started to heal itself. I looked at Carlisle with concern. Could I still suck the venom back out if the entry wound was gone? Carlisle seemed to share my concern. I heard her heartbeat accelerate.

"Is that supposed to happen?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Normally the heartbeat of someone who is bitten tends to accelerate. But in her case it may just be a response to the pain."

"Shouldn't we try to get the venom out?"

Rather than reply Carlisle stepped to his desk and bent over Claire's body. After a second he looked up at me, his face filled with anguish.

"What's wrong? Is it killing her?"

Even before he replied I knew what he was going to say.

"It's too late. The venom has entered her system. There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

"Oh God, please no!" I whispered, desperation taking hold of me. If she became a vampire it would be my fault. I would have destroyed the life of a healthy young girl forever. It would be so much worse than when Carlisle had turned the others. They had been on the brink of death but Claire... She had so much to live for.

Drawn to the room by Claire's rapid heartbeat the others arrived.

"What's happening? Is she all right?" Edward asked.

"I'm not sure. The venom is raging through her body but I don't know if her system is fighting it or being changed by it."

Suddenly Claire began to sit up ever so slowly. Her heartbeat had not slowed down. If anything, it was still increasing. From her movements it was obvious that she was in a lot of pain. I briefly wondered if she felt human, if the pain caused by my venom had given her some reaffirmation of her humanity. I sincerely hoped that was the case.

Once she had sat up she slowly started to open her eyes. The pain in them was almost too much to bear. I saw my shock at her predicament mirrored in the others' faces. None of us seemed to understand what was happening. As she pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on her knees, hear heartbeat continued to accelerate. Even with my limited knowledge of medicine I could tell that her heartbeat was going faster than humanly possible. Any normal person would have died of a heart attack by now. Fortunately Claire was anything but normal.

Without any warning her heartbeat started to slow down again and she slowly sat up. We were too shocked to say anything. When she looked at us she seemed scared and angry at the same time.

"What?! Stop staring at me like that. You're really starting to freak me out!"

"I'm sorry," Carlisle replied, "but we just can't figure out what happened. How badly did it hurt?"

She glanced at me and a shadow seemed to cross her eyes. She probably did not want me to feel guilty about biting her. Well, it was too late for that.

"You weren't exaggerating when you warned me. Let's leave it at that." I was grateful that she did not say anything else.

"Do you feel any different? Your eyes are still blue and your skin colour hasn't changed so you shouldn't be a vampire." The scientist in Carlisle started to take over.

"Well I don't feel different."

She grabbed Carlisle's letter opener.

"If you can't control yourselves around blood you may want to leave," I told the others as soon as Claire's intentions became clear. Everyone except for Carlisle and me left the room.

Without hesitation Claire lifted the letter opener and stabbed it through her arm. I instantly held my breath. Her skin was obviously still human because the opener pierced it without any problems. I was rather surprised at the force with which Claire had rammed the object through her arm. The letter opener did not have a sharp blade so she could not have made an incision but putting it all the way through her arm seemed like overkill.

"Does it hurt?" Carlisle inquired.

Claire looked at him with a surprised expression, "no, but I didn't mean for it to go all the way through! I just brought it down with what I thought would be just enough force to pierce the skin. What's going on?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Carlisle looked about as baffled as I felt. "If you were a vampire that letter opener wouldn't have left a scratch on your skin. But shoving it all the way through your own arm from that angle should've taken more force than a normal human of your size could manage. Either your body as somehow gotten weaker on a molecular level or you've gotten stronger."

"Oh no, you mean I'm going to fall apart because my molecules aren't as cohesive as they used to be?"

"Actually I think it's more plausible that you've gotten stronger. Maybe the venom only gave you some vampiric abilities. Why don't you try and see if you can beat me in an arm-wrestling match."

"Uhm okay. Sure." Claire pulled the letter opener out of her arm. I watched in amazement as her skin knitted itself back together. If it weren't for the dried blood on her arm know one would have ever guessed that she had injured herself.

Carlisle pulled up a second chair to the other side of his desk.

"Please try to be careful though. I'm quite fond of this desk."

"I will be, don't worry," Claire allowed herself a small smile.

With that she grabbed Carlisle's hand and started to push. At first I was not sure if Carlisle was putting in any effort but when I saw the tendons protruding from his neck I realized he was giving it everything he had. Any newborn vampire would have easily beaten Carlisle but Claire seemed to struggle keeping her arm upright. Nevertheless, even if she didn't have the strength of a newborn vampire no normal human being stood a chance against a vampire. Clearly the venom had changed Claire in some way.

In an attempt to push her arm over, Carlisle tightened his grip around Claire's hand. All of the sudden I heard a snapping sound and Carlisle jumped up, releasing her hand as if it were a venomous snake.

"I'm so sorry, Claire. You're so strong I forgot that you don't seem to be a full vampire. I don't know what came over me. Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't worry," Claire placated him. She grabbed her mangled right hand and started pushing the bones back into place. "It's not like it hurt or anything. It'll be fine in a minute."


End file.
